1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing objects, and in particular, to applying a coating to objects. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for coating objects with a robotic object coating system.
2. Background
The process for manufacturing components for aircraft and other vehicles may be very complex and time-consuming. Components may be manufactured in various stages in which different types of components are fabricated, molded, coated, and tested.
These stages may be performed by robotic systems, human operators, or both robotic systems and human operators. For example, a component for a fuel tank may be fabricated, painted, installed, and/or inspected by a human operator, a robotic system, or some combination thereof.
In some cases, an aircraft may have thousands of components that need to be painted. Consequently, paint may be applied to many different components at one time. For instance, five, ten, fifteen or more objects may be painted during the same interval.
When applying paint or other types of coatings, the components may be arranged on a component carrier, cart, or rack. In some cases, more than one type of component may be present on the component carrier at the same time. Different types of components may have the same or different sizes, shapes, weights, or other characteristics from each other.
Currently, component painting may typically be completed by human painters. However, the painting of aircraft components may be more physically demanding on painters than desired. For example, painters may typically wear head-to-toe protective clothing to limit exposure to toxic chemicals found in the paint. Additionally, painters may carry large reservoirs of paint that may be difficult to maneuver in order to paint the components in a preferred manner. Because these reservoirs may be difficult to maneuver, the painters may become exhausted more quickly than desired.
In some cases, a pre-programmed robotic system may be used to limit exposure by human painters to chemicals in the paint. With robotic painting systems, a controller provides instructions to the robot to paint the objects arranged on the component carrier. However, this type of painting system may not be as accurate as desired. For example, pre-programmed robotic painting systems may have a large margin of error. As a result, a human painter may be needed to inspect and repaint some of the components. This type of process may take more time and effort than desired. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus which take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.